Passing on the tradition

[Timnterra]

I was blessed to take my son hunting this year for the first time. I didn't have much time to hunt myself this year and ended up only hunting one day and didn't harvest anything. Here in SD you can get a mentor tag for any antlerless deer that is good from September 15- January 1st. I was able to get away during the holiday break and go hunting with my son once after Thanksgiving and once before Christmas and again the last day of the year. We walked a lot and saw deer every time we went out but never connected on anything. The first time we went out he took a shot at a doe, but not being very practiced at shooting and struggling with the rifle set up I prepared for him he missed. It was hard for him but He took the disappointment pretty well knowing that we would have another opportunity to get out and hunt. He's pretty young (6) and needed a short butt stock to reach around so I figured an AR15 with collapsible stock would be the best option. Unfortunately most AR stocks have no provisions for using a rear bag. This just never occurred to me until we were laying on the side of the hill trying to prop up the grip with the bill of a baseball cap. I ended up making a stock on a 3d printer that would work with a rear bag and give more stability. It was a challenge getting him lined up because he's just doesn't have the fine motor skills of yet. So I would get the deer lined up in the scope and move over so he could get behind the rifle. He would move the gun and struggle to get it back on target. This happened several times till finally he was able to take a shot and dropped this doe at 350yds. This was the first animal I've seen killed with a 6.5 Grendel and it performed well. It was an awesome moment to share with my son and left me excited for many more!

 

[FrogFire7]

Great job! Neither of you will forget that

 

[akdad]

Great job!!! It's incredibly hard for those small people to get a huge stock to fit em.
You should post a picture of the stock you built!!

 

[Rick Richard]

Great job for being so persistent and patient. Congrats to him for taking a nice trophy.

Curious why you didn't consider a tripod and clamp setup?

 

[LVJ76]

Awesome job both of you, and I believe that the first miss made the kill even better, and more exciting for your son. Persistence pays off, you keep trying till it's done.

Congrats to you both, on the hunt and the memories made.

 

[scrmblr1982cj8]

Great story! Congrats!

 

[dustbag]

That's what it's all about. Congratulations to you both!

 

[Bob Wright]

I love this story. Great job!!

 

[southpa]

This made me grin! Congratulations dad. The kids face says it all!

 

[Timnterra]

Great job for being so persistent and patient. Congrats to him for taking a nice trophy.

Curious why you didn't consider a tripod and clamp setup?

I have a tripod with a clamp but I figured he would be more stable prone. I have a significant reduction in my effective range when I shoot off the tripod. I wanted to give him the best possible shooting position as you can see in the pictures it's wide open and a close shot is not very likely. I had planned on keeping him limited to 200 yds but the closest shot we could reliably achieve was 350yds. I learned how important practice is for young guys. We needed more than three shooting trips to prepare.

 

[akdad]

350 is a pretty decent shot!! He did well

 

[bigbuckfarm]

Great story and shot, both of you keep up the good work.

 

[FEENIX]

I was blessed to take my son hunting this year for the first time. I didn't have much time to hunt myself this year and ended up only hunting one day and didn't harvest anything. Here in SD you can get a mentor tag for any antlerless deer that is good from September 15- January 1st. I was able to get away during the holiday break and go hunting with my son once after Thanksgiving and once before Christmas and again the last day of the year. We walked a lot and saw deer every time we went out but never connected on anything. The first time we went out he took a shot at a doe, but not being very practiced at shooting and struggling with the rifle set up I prepared for him he missed. It was hard for him but He took the disappointment pretty well knowing that we would have another opportunity to get out and hunt. He's pretty young (6) and needed a short butt stock to reach around so I figured an AR15 with collapsible stock would be the best option. Unfortunately most AR stocks have no provisions for using a rear bag. This just never occurred to me until we were laying on the side of the hill trying to prop up the grip with the bill of a baseball cap. I ended up making a stock on a 3d printer that would work with a rear bag and give more stability. It was a challenge getting him lined up because he's just doesn't have the fine motor skills of yet. So I would get the deer lined up in the scope and move over so he could get behind the rifle. He would move the gun and struggle to get it back on target. This happened several times till finally he was able to take a shot and dropped this doe at 350yds. This was the first animal I've seen killed with a 6.5 Grendel and it performed well. It was an awesome moment to share with my son and left me excited for many more!

WTG, Dad, and congrats all around. Since my Dad was not a hunter, I made sure both my sons (now 35 and 33) were exposed to hunting. Dang, I missed those days. This reminds me of an Airman (first-time hunter) I took out hunting antelope and deer almost 20 years ago. About 5 years ago, I got a text from him thanking me for showing him how to hunt because he took his son for his first hunt.

 

[Sobewan]

That's awesome! Heck of a shot for his age! Congrats and keep up the tradition!